Father

1955 – Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony is born in Chicago. Michael Anthony Sobolewski (born June 20, 1954) is an American musician. He is best known as the former bassist and a founding member of the hard rock band Van Halen. Anthony joined the band in 1974 and was their official recording and performing bassist […]

1950 – Ann Wilson of Heart is born in San Diego this day in rock history! Biography When she was a child, Wilson’s family moved around because her father was a Marine Corps colonel. The family eventually settled in Bellevue, a suburb of Seattle, Washington. Shy due to a stutter, Wilson turned to music, and […]

1942 – Paul McCartney is born in Liverpool, England. The Beatles have 20 No. 1 songs, more than any other recording act, and McCartney by himself or in duets has another nine. His biggest post-Beatles hits are “Ebony and Ivory,” a duet with Stevie Wonder that stays at No. 1 for seven weeks, and “Say […]

2008 – Grammys still on. While the writers’ strike put a damper on the Golden Globes, the Writers Guild of America announced Tuesday (January 22) that the striking union will not protest the upcoming Grammy Awards, as had been expected. The unresolved writers’ strike already resulted in a scaled-back Golden Globes and was looming over […]

2006 – Tom Noonan, the father of The Chart Toppers Hot 100, dies in Los Angeles at the age of 78. Noonan started at Chart Toppers in 1949, and in the November 12, 1955 issue of the magazine introduced the Top 100, a chart that merged sales and radio data.

2005 – Bob Moog, inventor of his namesake range of synthesizers and one of the most significant figures in the evolution of electronic music, dies at his home in Asheville, N.C. He is 71. A native of N.Y., Moog was diagnosed with brain cancer in late April and had since undergone radiation treatment and chemotherapy. […]

2005 – British R&B artist “Long John” Baldry dies in Vancouver after battling a chest infection for four months. He is 64. Having begun his career playing folk and jazz in the late 1950s, Baldry was one of the founding fathers of British rock’n’roll in the ’60s. He is also credited with discovering Rod Stewart […]

2004 – UK prog rockers Muse play the biggest show of their careers when they headline the Sunday night at Glastonbury Festival. The gig is marred by tragedy when drummer Dominic Howard’s father dies backstage shortly afterwards.